The JRC- Atmospheric Research Station

1. Institution in charge of the field station The JRC-Ispra research station is run by the Climate Change Unit of the Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES), one of the institutes that constitute the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission. The mission of the JRC (http://www.jrc.cec.eu.int/) is to provide scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of EU policies. In line with the JRC mission, the aim of IES (http://ies.jrc.cec.eu.int/) is to provide support to European Union strategies for the protection of the environment contributing to a sustainable development. The Climate Change Unit (http://ccu.ei.jrc.it/ccu/) provides scientific support for the development and monitoring of European policies in the area of regional and global air pollution and climate change, namely the Kyoto protocol and beyond. The Unit is subdivided into 3 groups of competencies: Modeling and Data Analysis Atmosphere Biosphere Interactions Atmospheric Chemistry Frank Raes is Head of the Climate Change Unit. He is member of the EMEP steering body, and coordinator of the ACCENT task “Synthesizing research results for the policy and the public”. The set-up of the JRC-Ispra station resulted from a proposal of the Directorate General for Environment of the European Commission, in agreement with the Joint Research Centre, to take part to EMEP (Co-operative program for monitoring and evaluation of the long-range transmission of air pollutants in Europe), following the ratification in 1982 of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution by the European Community. The JRC-Ispra station is also a GAW regional site since December 1999.

2. Research interests / Particular competences The JRC-Ispra station was first developed to measure the EMEP core parameters related to the impact of pollution on ecosystems. Concentrations SO2, NOx, and O3 in the + - 2- gas phase, concentrations of NH4 , NO3 , and SO4 in the particulate phase, as well as rainwater acidity, conductivity and chemical composition have thus been monitored for almost 20 years. Other parameters such as metals in aerosol, VOCs, carbonyls and PAN were also measured for several years. Since 2002, additional measurements have been implemented to provide a comprehensive characterization of the aerosols, needed to assess their effect on health and their role in radiative forcing (see Table 1). Sampling and analyses, on-line measurements, and data quality check and processing are carried out by Atmospheric Chemistry group of the Climate Change Unit. This group has in-depth experience with the design of experiments to characterize physical and chemical properties of aerosols and has a strong interest in the impact of aerosols on climate. It has been developing and/or optimizing new instrumentation to measure the hygroscopicity and volatility of the aerosols (twin and tandem DMPS), the short-term

1 variations in the composition of aerosols (artifact-free denuder-aerosol collector combination with on-line analysis), the organic + elemental carbon content of aerosol (artifact free denuder – filter pack combinations), and the size and composition of single particles (bipolar time of flight mass spectrometer).

3. Site description freq. hr/day WS (m/s) a) Geographical and meteorological information Measurement site: JRC site, Ispra N Country: 5 NNW NNE Geographical coordinates: 45° 49’ N, 8° 38’ E 4 NW NE Altitude above sea level: 209 m 3 In operation since: 1985 WNW 2 ENE 1 Main wind direction: Generally weak wind 55 Mountain breeze effect on warm days W 0 E Occasionally strong northerly winds (with foehn effect) WSW ESE

Contact person: Jean-Philippe Putaud SW SE

SSW SSE Organisation: EC-Joint Research Centre S Institute for Environment and Sustainability

Fig. 1: distribution of wind direction and speed in 2000 The station is located by the fence of the JRC-Ispra site, situated in a semi-rural area (> 20km from large pollution sources), at the edge of one of the most polluted regions in Europe (the valley).

Fig. 2: general view of the JRC-Ispra Atmospheric Research Station

2 Weather is generally cold and sunny in winter, mild and rainy in spring and autumn, and warm and sunny in summer (with thunderstorms). Temperatures often reach < 0 °C in winter and > 30°C in summer.

25 250 precip (mm) temp av. (°C) 20 200

15 150

10 100

monthly mean temperature (°C) mean temperature monthly 5 50 monthly precipitation amount (mm) monthly precipitation amount

0 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Fig. 3: 10 year average (1990-1999) meteorological parameters at the JRC-Ispra Atmospheric Research Station

b) Monitoring activities / Available instrumentation - Monitoring As an EMEP research station and GAW regional station, the JRC-Ispra station has been monitoring some core parameters for almost 20 years. On the top of these, other aerosol parameters have been added to the measurement program recently. The parameters currently measured at the JRC-Ispra station are listed in Table 1. An aerosol backscatter lidar has been set-up in November 2005. In a next future, O3 vertical profiles and greenhouse gas concentrations will also be monitored. - Other available instrumentation Other instruments are run for shorter periods for specific scientific studies or comparison with monitoring techniques. This additional instrumentation is listed in Table 2. c) Policy in relation to data availability and how to access data Most data are delivered to the EMEP (http://www.nilu.no/projects/ccc/) and WDCA (http://ies.jrc.cec.eu.int/wdca/) data banks. All data (also with better time resolutions) are available at the Climate Change Unit web page (http://ccu.jrc.it/ccu/) by selecting Data Sets and then EMEP station data. The use of these data in publications or presentations should be acknowledged with either co-authorship for the contact PI or acknowledgments. If these data make a significant contribution to the publication or presentation, the participation of the contact PI in the data analysis and an offer of co-authorship are strongly encouraged.

3 Table 1. Overview of the monitoring instrumentation.

Type Parameter Method Time resolution Start

Wind speed 10 min 1985 Wind direction 10 min 1985 Pressure 10 min 1985 Meteorology Temperature 10 min 1985 Relative Humidity 10 min 1985 Solar Radiation Pyranometer 10 min 1985 Precipitation amount Wet-only sampler 24 hr 1985

SO2 UV fluorescence 10 min 1985 Gas Phase NO + NOx Chemilumin.- Mo converter 10 min 1985

O3 UV aborption 10 min 1987 CO NDIR 10 min 1990 PM10 + PM2.5 mass conc. Gravimetry & TEOM-FDMS 24 hr / 10 min 1985 (TSP) Major ions in both fractions Ion Chromatography 24 hr 1985 Particulate OC +EC in both fractions Thermo- oxidative method 24 hr 2002 Phase Number size distribution DMPS + APS 6 min / 10 min 2004 Absorption coefficient 7 wavelength aethalometer 15 min 2004 Scattering coefficient 3 wavelength nephelometer 10 min 2004 Aerosol vertical profile Backscatter lidar 2 min 2005 Precipitation pH 24 hr 1985 conductivity 24 hr 1985 Major ions Ion Chromatography 24 hr 1985

Table 2. Overview of the instrumentation available for measurement campaigns.

Type Parameter Method Time resolution Gas Phase Water soluble gases Wet denuder + on-line IC 15 min

(e.g. NH3, HNO3, etc…) Particle hygroscopicity Tandem DMPS 30 min Particulate Particle volatility Heated DMPS 6 min Phase PM inorganic components Aerosol collector + on-line IC 15 min Size segregated aerosol chemistry Berner impactor + IC and thermal OC/EC 12-24 hr Single particle size and composition Single particle mass spectrometer N / A d) Web-site address of the field station http://ccu.jrc.it/ccu/ (click on “facilities” and “Atmospheric Chemistry”) e) Access to the facility (lodging, transportation to the site, technical assistance, …) The JRC-Ispra station is easily accessible by road (A8-A26-E62 highway, exit Castelletto or Sesto Calende) or airplane (30 min away from the Milano-Malpensa international airport). Instrumentation to be brought into the JRC-Ispra site should go through customs clearance at the west gate of the JRC site. Accommodation is possible in 3-4 hotels located at <5 km from the site, and in a residence (small furnished flats) located just in front of JRC main gate (ca. 25 Euros/night). Technicians spend several hours a day at the station and are available for assistance.

4 f) Scheduled scientific activities at the site (field campaigns) - Particulate OC artifact-free sampler validation - EUSAAR intercomparison field campaigns g) Association to national, European and/or international Networks The JRC-Ispra station has been part of the: - EMEP measurement network since November 1985. - GAW coordinated network since December 1999. h) Indication on specific issues for which collaboration is sought Collaborations are particularly welcome in the field of: - carbonaceous aerosol artifact-free sampling - aerosol source apportionment studies (elemental and organic tracers, C isotopes) - atmospheric particle remote sensing i) Is there is a fee for using a facility? No fee. Power available free of charge. j) Name and address of contact person Jean-Philippe PUTAUD European Commission – Joint Research Centre Institute for Environment and Sustainability TP 290 I-21020 Ispra (Va), Italy

Tel.: ++39 0332 785041 Fax: ++ 39 0332 785837 Email: [email protected] http://ccu.jrc.it/ccu/

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